Various frame clips have been utilized in the past in so-called "frameless" picture mounting systems in which a picture, photograph or other piece of artwork is sandwiched between a backing, usually of cardboard or foamboard and a transparent facing sheet, either glass or plastic. The frame clip structures are used to hold the sandwich structure together and may also be used in mounting the finished article to a wall. It will be appreciated that no exterior frame need be used in order to mount pictures in this manner, from which the major benefit is derived.
While what has been described appears to be a quite simple mounting system, in practice, it is very difficult to utilize these clips because of the difficulty of maintaining alignment of all the pieces while the clips are attached. In one system, wire or cord must be simultaneously wrapped around four clip structures and securely tightened to provide requisite strength. This cannot be easily accomplished by one person due to the number of mounting elements which must be simultaneously handled. Moreover, during the tightening process, the clips often become misaligned and must be straightened before the tightening process can continue. This is time consuming and frustrating. Additionally, the amount of apparatus on the back of the picture is excessive.
Another type of frame clip is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,443 issued to P. Sury, Oct. 31, 1967, the so-called "Swiss clip". This clip is a unitary device having a U-shaped structure at one end and a single prong at the other end which is designed to project perpendicularly into the backing material to hold the sandwich-like structure together. This clip suffers from mechanical instability since it tends to pull out of the backing material. Moreover, the sandwich structure is not always tightly held together if the prong penetration point is not far enough inward of the edge of the sandwich structure. It will be noted that this clip is not spring loaded in a direction that would draw the clip towards the center of the picture.
A third class of frame clips are spring loaded so that each clip is drawn towards the center of the picture. These are exemplified by the clips in U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,272 issued to R. M. Kulicke on Oct. 10, 1961 and those of French Pat. No. 2,274,253 published Feb. 13, 1976; and West German Pat. No. 24-50-397 published Apr. 29, 1976. In each of these patents a frame clip is spring loaded by a spring running from the clip to an anchor secured to the backing material. In each case these anchoring devices are preattached by a rivet, screw or like device which makes positioning of the clip difficult if the prelocated anchors are not properly positioned. In order to assure proper alignment, grooves or apertures must be provided in the backing material, which is inconvenient, especially for custom size articles. In each case, either tools must be used, or special preparation of the backing is necessary, which lacks convenience.
In contrast to the above-mentioned mounting system, the subject system utilizes a spring loaded frame clip and specialized anchor to which one end of the spring is attached. The anchor includes angled teeth or prongs which depend downwardly from a base plate or like member. The teeth are angled so that they point in the direction of the clip and are sharp enough to puncture or pierce the backing material, which may be cardboard or a combination material such as foamboard. Foamboard is a backing material which has polystrene foam sandwiched between two outer sheets, usually kraft paper, in which both the outer sheets and foam are pierceable. The frame clip is generally U-shaped and adapted to slip over the backing-picture-glass sandwich. One end of a coil spring is attached at the inner edge of the clip, with the other end being attached to the anchor.
The teeth depending from the anchor act as a "plow" when the clip and anchor are in place and spring tension is applied, so as to keep the anchor securely fastened to the backing material.
To attach, the clip is hooked over the edge of the glass, backing, and picture sandwich. The plow anchor is pulled away from the clip by means of the handle and spacer which tensions the spring. The plow anchor is then pressed down into the backing material, such that the teeth pierce the backing material. The anchor is then released and the spring force pulls the plow anchor forward. Because of the angling of the teeth, the base plate of the anchor is forced downward into close contact with backing material. Once in place, the base plate is maintained flat against the backing material.
This provides for ease in the positioning and securing of the clips, because the clip may be positioned first and then the anchor pulled back and pushed in. Thus, no prelocated anchor need be used, and this system is thus universal in the sense that it is usable with a large variety of different size custom units.
In one embodiment, the anchor may subsequently be adhesively attached to the backing material by providing one or more apertures in the anchor base plate. After mounting the anchor as described, a drop of liquid adhesive may be dispensed into the aperture. If the adhesive is thin enough, it will wick out between the base plate and the backing material where it will set up. The plow type arrangement provides for "self-jigging" to hold the plate flat against the backing material for optimum positioning for a thin adhesive line which is known to provide the strongest bond. The adhesive wick-through process may also be used to secure the clip itself, if desired.
For rapid and exceptionally strong bonds, cyanoacrylate adhesive may be used, with or without an activator. This adhesive provides an exceptionally rapid and strong bond, especially in the cases of metal to paper bonds, and plastic to paper bonds where the paper is coated. Activators may be necessary for uncoated papers and cardboards or chip boards to speed glue setting.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an exceptionally rapid, easy mounting system for pictures and the like.
It is another object of this invention to provide spring loaded frame clips with rapidly attachable and adjustable anchoring means.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a unique anchor utilizing the plow concept for anchoring spring loaded frame clips.
It is another object of this invention to provide a self-jigging adhesively held anchor for frame clips.
It is yet another object of this invention to utilize liquid adhesives in frame clip mounting.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an easily usable picture framing method and apparatus.
These and other objects will be better understood in connection with the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: